Nortel is strengthening its small and medium business (SMB) portfolio with the addition of two new data products, as well as enhancements to existing SMB solutions.

SMB products and enhancements include: the Business Ethernet Switch 200 and Business Ethernet Switch 50 portfolios, Business Communications Manager 50 Release 2 and enhancements to the Digital Mobility portfolio. The Business Ethernet Switch 200 and Business Ethernet Switch 50 are attempts to bolster Nortel’s recently announced SMB portfolio of voice, data and wireless solutions. The Business Ethernet Switch 200 series will be available in late November. The Business Ethernet Switch 50 series, BCM50 Release 2 and Digital Mobility additions will also be available in December.

Tech financing for allMicrosoft Canada Co. is offering two new programs to help small businesses make IT purchases and upgrade their software. The initiatives will include offers of small businesses technology loans from Microsoft Financing and lowered costs to enter the Microsoft Open Value License program. Access will be granted to Software Assurance, giving customers new versions of eligible licensed software, phone support 24 hours a day, seven days a week and the ability to spread payments annually over the duration of the agreement. Microsoft research has shown that although many small business owners are intensive credit card users, most prefer to use third-party financing or leasing for IT purchases instead of cash or credit cards. As a result, Microsoft Financing is lowering its minimum transaction limit from $10,000 to $3,000. Small business owners taking advantage of the new program before June 30, 2007 will also be eligible for a 90-day deferred payment option.

Partnering for a little WLANThe designer and manufacturer of the Interference-Free Wireless LAN System, Extricom, has partnered with ZyXEL Communications Corp., a provider of broadband access solutions. Under the agreement, ZyXEL will use Extricom’s patented WLAN switch technology to create a new, distinct product configuration suited for the small- and medium-sized business (SMB) market. It will be distributed worldwide. Extricom’s patented Interference-Free WLAN system uses an architecture replacing a “cell-planning” with a “channel blanket” topology. The technology eliminates the co-channel interference that plagues traditional WLAN system, without the costly RF cell-planning of traditional solutions, according to the company.

SMBs are friends of the familyBroadcom Corp. is offering a new family of Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switches to enable reliable networks for small- and medium-sized businesses through a combination of integrated hardware and software. Each member of the family of Broadcom ROBOSwitch devices (BCM53700 Series) has between 16 and 50 GbE ports and features an integrated MIPS processor and WebSuperSmart software. The integrated MIPS processor reduces the system chip count and power consumption by eliminating the need for an external CPU to run software and manage compute-intensive tasks. The BCM53700 family’ WebSuperSmart software simplifies network management so that a person without any prior networking experience can configure and make changes to the network, says Broadcom.